The Wanganui Chronicle. AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1901. CONCERNING FROZEN MEAT.

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 March 1901, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle. AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1901. CONCERNING FROZEN MEAT.

Any discovery which lias the effect of improving tho appearance of frozen meat as it is thawed out in the butcher's shop must certainly be regarded as of great importance in relation to the frozen meat export trade. Such a discovery, according to tho Otago Daily Times, has been mado by Mr A. H. Chapman, sheep-far-mer, of Kurow, and the advantage of liis discovery is that its simplicity is its recommendation. As everyone knows, the sightly appearance of meat in the butcher's shop has a marked influence on its saie, and ordinarily the difference between fresh-killed and frozen meat, in respect of general appearance as usually exposed for sale, is very distinct. The one has a fresh bloom m contrast witk the other, which has a. washed-cut appearance, as though it had been hung in the rain for some time. Ifc is this unsightly appearance of the meat as ii thaws out in the letoil shops which marks the ditference in price botwecn frozen meat and that which is fresh killed. After a f.me, however, the difference is riot quite so striking, for the frozen meat gradually loses its flabby appearance as the. surface moisture evaporates ; yet it never comes fully up to die appearance of the fresh-killed carcase. How to obvir.te this deterioration of the meat, which is, however, more apparent than real, is a problem which has engaged the attention of those interested in the trade ever since it began. Messrs Nelson Bros, adopted a process' whereby the meat is thawed in a dry-air chamber. The air, previously deprived of its moisture and maintained at the temperature of the outside atmosphere, prevents the formation of moisture on the surface of the carcase of mutton or quarter of beef, as the case may be, .and the result is a considerable improvement in the appearance of the meat. Tho theory has all along been' hell that frozen meat while thawing exuded moisture, or sweated, and

this sweating gave the carcase its unsightly appearance. The dry air was supposed to nbsorb this mowture pretty well as a, sponge would do; but Mr Chapman's experiments seem to upset that theory. Believing that the moisture in the thawing carcase came from the atmosphere and not from the meat, he tried the plan of excluding the air by covering a carcase in waterproof material, when he found his theory fully borno out., Believing that he had made a really important discovery, Mr Chapman went to Dunedin to demonstrate its value to those interested in the frozen meat trade. From the description of the experiment, as furnished by our southern contemporary, it appears thai a. couple of carcases of frozen mutton from the Bumsnde Freezing Works wero first tried. These were hung up in Mr W. Patrick's shop, Princes Street South, the one uncovered and the other enclosed in a bag made of mackintosh sheeting. Some days later the covered carcase was opened out, when the contrast was easily seen; for while the unprotected carcase had the usual soft, moist, discoloured appearance, the other was quits dry on the surface, and not far removed in appearance from the unfrozen carcases hanging up beside it in the shop. It is necessary to add,, however, that 24 hours' afterwards the difference between the two thawed carcases was not so pronounced as at first. While the covered carcase had maintained its appearance, the uncovered one had materially improved, from the evaporation of its surface moisture. The demonstration was carried farther with a couple of quarters of frozen beef treated in the same way, one being covered and the other allowed to thaw out in the usual fashion! The covered quarter was opened out on Thursday morning, and presented the same striking contrast with the uncovered one as was noticeable in the case of the carcases of mutton. While the uncovered one was moist and flabby on the surface, the other was firm and dry; and, although that lich yellow bloom visible on freshkilled beef was absent, those present a.t the expeiiment were astonished to* i.ote how quickly the colour improved on contact with the air, and in less than half an hour's time there was really very little difference between the appearance of that particular quarter and the other quarters of bocf hanging round the shop. On cutting the meat it was seen to be of a much darker colour than the fresh joints hanging up;' bub here, a<rain, on contact with the air, the rich zed bloom of prime beef speedily returned, so that any difference was practically undistinguishable. It is quite, safe to say that no one noticed any difference between 'the two sirloins hanging all day in the front of Mr Patrick's shop, and if frozen meat could be openedu up in a like condition in London there would be really but little differenco between home-grown and imported meat. Aa far as the experiment has gone, it has proved a remarkable success; but, of course, the success of Mr Chapman's method of treatment has not been proved to absolute demonstration, and fuller experiment is necessary. Still, as the Otago Times remarks, it does appear as if what he claims is correct^-viz., that tha moisture comes from the atmospheric contact with the cold' surface of the frozen meat, and the waterproof covering simply prevents the deposition of atmospheric watery vapour in tho form of dew. This is in accordance with well-known natural law, and is. but a further elucidation of the fact that dew can only be deposited when the surface of contact is a p;ood deal colder than the inpinging atmosphere. The deposition of moisture on the outside of the covering further shows that the theory is correct, whether it will work out as satisfactorily as Mr Chapman anticipates or not. The remedy he proposes to appiiy is so inexpensive and apparently so successful, that its adoption wherever frozen meat is exposed for sale ought to be immediate. If cohering the meat in a waterproof wrapping shouldu improve its appearance sufficiently to increase the price of frozen mutton by even so much as one-eighth of a, penny per Hi, the gain would bo a most important one to an industry which has been, established with a very small margin for profit. The slightest increase of that margin is all clear gain, and there is no valid reason why New Zealand meat should not more nearly conform to tho retail price of the> Home-grown article, if 'the meat can be placed before the consumer in a similar condition to that experimented with in

Bunedin,